I sat on my couch with kids piled up on my lap as long as I could, soaking up every moment before I left for the hospital. Closing the front door and riding through town felt strange- I would not see these familiar places or even feel the rumble of a car for thirty-one days. Thankfully we…
I have a rare and dangerous pregnancy complication with our fourth child. In a nutshell, our healthy little girl cannot survive even early labor. To ensure that I do not go into labor, my doctors scheduled a preterm c section and recommended I be monitored in the hospital for a full month before delivery. After birth, our…
I have dubbed my approach to homeschooling my preschoolers Library Books and Rabbit Trails. It’s simple and wonderful. We read books aloud and they do what kids do- they ask questions. I call their questions rabbit trails and enthusiastically follow them… into more books. The answers stock library shelves. More books generate more questions that…
I did not become a nurturer on my first child’s birthday. In fact, it took three children for me to finally feel confident and interested in the job of thoroughly nurturing my family. Three kids in four years. The intensity of having kids so close in age was the wake-up call that changed our lives…
I reread Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and was halted by a wisdom-packed conversation between dutiful brave Aragorn and glory-hungry complaining Lady Eowyn. So I chalked a fraction of it on my kitchen wall. Aragorn’s advice is not just applicable to a shieldmaiden itching for battle, but also to a woman at home doing quiet chores,…
My kids and I spend a lot of time outside. Nature has become a mainstay in our family life and has proven to be a wellspring of joy and countless educational opportunities. Here, I’ll share several reasons why I have given nature a central role in our days. First off, we love it. The kids beg…
I remember being six years old living in a log cabin on Texas acres. I remember sitting on the porch watching a lightning storm with my dad. And watching deer at dawn from the panoramic window and sitting on a sun-bleached paddle boat on the pond’s edge and stuffing apron pockets with hillside wild blackberries….
Here in California, spring comes in late February. What an adjustment for us after living in Upstate New York! We love taking a stack of books and cups of cocoa into the yard or bagging them up for a trip to the park. Most of our park time is spent running and climbing and yelling…
So your child is interested in horses (or beetles or manta rays or castles). If you already read my post, Library Books and Rabbit Trails, you know how great a resource the library can be for answering your kids’ marvelous questions and generating new questions. But you may have a burning question of your own,…
This letter to my son is part of the Letters to My Children series. Learn more about these letters here. October 2016 Son, As you grow into a man, you will navigate many emotions and temptations. Sometimes they will feel so strong that you will feel you cannot rein them in or reign over them, that…
I keep a journal for each of my children where I write letters to them and prayers for them. Each child’s journal is unique outside and in. My hope is that some day, when they are 15 or 22 or 40, they will read my entries and be strengthened by these individualized encouragements from the one…
At my local women’s Bible study, an elderly widow stood up. In tears, she timidly let out a secret. “I miss my husband and nobody touches me anymore. I come here hoping someone will squeeze my hand or hold my shoulder once a week,” she said, “Young women, widows need more hugs.” I cried. This…
Individuals and organizations raising awareness about social justice issues may adopt one of two different approaches: harsh or gentle. One website may jar the senses with black and red block lettering then drive readers to tears with their emotive descriptions; their speakers might pound podiums and flash graphic images on power point slides. They believe…
Once a week, summer camp staff woke before sunrise because, as tired as we were, we found Matt Lantz’s Bible studies more invigorating than sleep. I admit I was disappointed in 2008 when Matt announced his series on Leviticus. “Twelve weeks on Leviticus?!” I groaned, “you mean that boring book of unapplicable rules? Can’t we…
This month, Love True launched its blog and invited me to join its crew of writers! For their first post, head blogger, Jackie, interviewed the founders (read Rebekah’s, Emily’s and my abbreviated responses at www.love-true.org.) Founding this nonprofit was a fat milestone on my faith journey. God taught me to pray and to wait then to follow him…
I don’t know about you, but after communion, I want more bread. Maybe it is just because I come to church hungry. No, not figuratively- like literal belly-rumble hungry. A little pinch of a loaf doesn’t satisfy my stomach. I feel immature when my hunger for more bread interrupts my thanksgiving prayer for God’s metaphorical…
Sunrise is muffled by a pale veil, but the snowy ground glows. The scene framed by my window pane looks like spray paint on sidewalk chalk: The sky is three pastel blue-pink-orange layers and the distant hills are soft purple, but the yard is neon blue. I can see neither road or roofs for snow….
The now viral #WomenNotObjects video highlighting ads that objectify women was posted on January 11- that’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Coincidence? Probably. But a link between sexual advertising and sex trafficking is hard to deny. The video’s creator, Madonna Badger, is a executive at Badger & Winters, an advertising agency that has committed to never…
Most people reading this article already know about and maybe even advocate for victims of sex trafficking. But many readers do not know about its correlation to childhood sexual abuse. Indeed, no other factor increases a girl or boy’s vulnerability to trafficking more than the memory of such abuse. [1] According to a report by the…
My friend, Sue exemplifies the godly advice to “love the people in front of you.” Every week, she hosts a playgroup for over seven mommas and their toddlers. Sue meets an often unspoken but critical need for moms of littles: fellowship and rest. Fellowship: Women need fellowship. Talking actually makes us happier. But for many moms in the babies…
Full of zeal, we may ask God to use us for some great purpose. “I’ll do anything,” we pray. But when the call to help a hurting neighbor is uncomfortably unpredictable, inconvenient and costly, we might stare at our feet and mumble, “So, I, uh, have these other ideas for how I can make a difference….
God does not hold spontaneous Q&A sessions. We shouldn’t procrastinate on prayer then dial in with awkward unfamiliarity asking for quick advice on a big decision. God reveals how to follow Him gradually over years of spending hours with him, meditating on scripture, and renewing our minds daily through practice and prayer. As with fitness,…
Sometimes Colossians 3:12 hits me over the head. I missed my quiet time this morning and was not exactly tender-hearted toward my children when they swarmed me with needs as I tried to squeeze my Bible study in later. The irony of my un-Christlikeness while I read the Bible was loud and humbling. I thought…
Patience is virtue that babies have yet to cultivate. Especially hungry ones. When I lift my son from his bed he wiggles all over with excitement. “I’m about to eat!” his body language declares, mouth flung open and head twisting side to side eagerly searching for milk. But in the seconds it takes me to…
Inside the back cover my journals, I grow a list of little things I am thankful for. I started the habit after reading Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts in 2011. I’ve logged the list on my blog. You can read my first 59 gifts here. 60. Windy day quilt show 61. Young folks dancing to…
I’m lamenting autumn’s pending ending. Especially this year, possibly the last of six beautiful years in New England where colorful hills spread like patchwork quilts. I love rereading old posts when seasons change. Here are snippets from a few fall favorites. “My favorites are the sugar maples. They are such a glorious red! I can compare the…
One quarter of the 400,000 children in the foster care system are waiting to be adopted. One quarter of those adoptable youth will not be adopted; rather they will be “emancipated” from care once they turn 18. For those youth, the future is dire and dangerous. Underfunded agencies help how they can, but most teens are thrust…
The good thing about titling a post as a “birth story” is only people interested in birth stories will read it. That’s your warning. But don’t worry I won’t stray too far into the TMI zone. My midwife recommended that, since my previous labor had lasted only 50 minutes, I should head to the hospital if…
Many of us, when we think of sex trafficking, picture Thailand or Moldova, not New Jersey. The truth is that the sex trade is big business here in the United States and most victims are not trafficked in from abroad. They are Americans, often as young as twelve years old, forced or coerced into prostitution by pimps that roam even the quietest of…
As a youth, I experienced spikes in spiritual zeal after retreats, mission trips and concerts. Then I’d fizzle out like a flat Coke a week or few later. My peers and I came to expect this of each other. To us, life was a series of spiritual highs and lows, “mountain tops and valleys” we…